Councillor John Robson at his swearing-in ceremony in May. Photo / George Novak
Councillor John Robson at his swearing-in ceremony in May. Photo / George Novak
Newly re-elected councillor John Robson has taken aim at Tauranga City Council's annual report, saying it contains "partial truths" and "egregious omissions" and refusing to support it.
His most frequent chamber sparring partner, councillor Larry Baldock, described Robson's remarks as "the 'I wasn't there last year so you can't possibly have done a good job', speech".
All councillors bar Robson, who rejoined the council in May after winning a byelection, voted to approve the council's audited Annual Report 2017-18 in a meeting on Wednesday last week.
The document detailed the council's performance for the 2017-18 year in terms of financial and non-financial measures set by the council.
Robson's chief complaint was that the report presented an overly rosy picture of the council's performance and glossed over some of its chief challenges.
He said the lack of mention of Bella Vista in the building services section was "an insult to homeowners and ratepayers".
Bella Vista - the 21-home failed subdivision in The Lakes that has made national headlines and seen the council offer to buy the affected houses, launch a court case against the liquidated building company and become the defendant in a suit brought by two sets of homeowners - is mentioned three times in the 300 plus-page document.
Mayor Greg Brownless raised it in the last paragraph of his foreword as an issue that "marred" the council's year.
The second mention was in the financial section, detailing related expenses of $2.2 million to June 30, and the third noted the council's agreement to enter into negotiations with homeowners to buy the homes.
Robson also pointed to a drop in building consents, lift in the debt-to-revenue ratio, and a worsening operating deficit as further evidence the commentary in the report was not totally "faithful" to the council's situation.
"It behoves us to reflect before signing off something as an act of compliance – does the picture painted truly reflect the state of the council in this city?
"I, in all good conscience, cannot say that it does."
Baldock said the report was not hiding anything.
Councillor Larry Baldock. Photo/George Novak
Bella Vista was appropriately recorded and while the number of building consents was down the value of consents was up, reflecting a trend towards more apartments and multi-unit dwellings, "which is what we want".
Baldock said the council had faced tough times in the past year and had things to work on, but had also achieved significant things for the community.
"The report reflects that as accurately as we can."
Councillor Catherine Stewart said she had some sympathy for Robson's comments.
"While it met audit requirements, the report could be more balanced, warts and all."
Net external debt: up 15 per cent - ($301m to $349m) Operating revenue: up 5 per cent - ($199m to $210m) Debt to revenue ratio: up 10 per cent - (151 per cent to 167 per cent) Operating deficit: up 550 per cent - ($2m to $13m) Capital spend: down 1.4 per cent - ($145m to $143m) Rates revenue: up 7.1 per cent - ($135m to $126m) Development contributions: down 8.3 per cent - ($36m to $33m) Value of TCC assets: up 14 per cent - ($3.5b to $4b)
